João Francisco de Bragança

Music

Social Gatherings and Entertainment

Private social gatherings often featured music, dancing, and card games, with attendees enjoying tea, chocolate, and sweets. Orchestras or individual musicians were hired, and guests sometimes participated alongside professionals; dancing was so central that admission to events with balls could cost twice as much as those without.

Daily life

Storing and transporting water in Lisbon houses

In noble Lisbon households, water for daily consumption was stored in large glazed clay jars or barrels, and was frequently transported to the home on the heads of workers. One specific household paid an employee 2,400 réis monthly to provide this essential water.

What it cost

Soldiers' wages and miserable conditions

Soldiers often lived on very little, sometimes receiving only food for their labor, and frequently had their wages delayed for months or even years. This resulted in soldiers often being seen wearing ragged and miserable shoes.

What people wore

Fishermen kept gala outfits for generations

Fishermen wore simple linen breeches during work, but dressed in blue cloth suits for Sundays and kept their finest gala outfits for rare feast days. These precious gala sets were often passed down through generations, from parents to children and even grandchildren.

Getting around

Travel in luxury via mule-drawn litters

Wealthy individuals traveled between cities in litters, which were carriage-like boxes pulled by mules, at a cost of 80,000 to 90,000 réis for a journey between Lisbon and Porto.

At the table

Cod as a staple for the poor

Dried and salted cod, known as bacalhau, was a staple protein for ordinary people because it was affordable and easy to store.